diff --git a/.bumpversion.cfg b/.bumpversion.cfg
index 8e6e1abd..e4257935 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.cfg
+++ b/.bumpversion.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 6.1.0
+current_version = 7.0.0rc
 commit = True
 parse = (?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.(?P<patch>\d+)((?P<release>.*))?
 serialize = 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 1fdccd6e..fecac446 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
-        python-version: [3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9]
+        python-version: [3.7, 3.8, 3.9]
 
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/docs/release_notes.rst b/docs/release_notes.rst
index a8ad5d67..4191a5ab 100644
--- a/docs/release_notes.rst
+++ b/docs/release_notes.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ Release Notes
 `Semantic Versioning <http://semver.org/>`_ specification.
 
 
+Current Development Version
+---------------------------
+
+Major Updates
+
+* Support for Python 3.6 has been dropped (#539).
+
+
 6.1.0 - May 17th, 2021
 ---------------------------
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 06f3eb58..b94c90d7 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from setuptools import setup
 
 # Do not update the version manually - it is managed by `bumpversion`.
-version = '6.1.0'
+version = '7.0.0rc'
 
 
 requirements = [
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
         'Environment :: Console',
         'Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3',
-        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8',
+        'Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9',
         'Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only',
         'Operating System :: OS Independent',
         'License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License',
     ],
-    python_requires='>=3.6',
+    python_requires='>=3.7',
     keywords='pydocstyle, PEP 257, pep257, PEP 8, pep8, docstrings',
     packages=('pydocstyle',),
     package_dir={'': 'src'},
diff --git a/src/pydocstyle/utils.py b/src/pydocstyle/utils.py
index 47a5bcf8..7e95fc36 100644
--- a/src/pydocstyle/utils.py
+++ b/src/pydocstyle/utils.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Iterable, Tuple
 
 # Do not update the version manually - it is managed by `bumpversion`.
-__version__ = '6.1.0'
+__version__ = '7.0.0rc'
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 #: Regular expression for stripping non-alphanumeric characters
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index d61c3105..437a9fec 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # install tox" and then run "tox" from this directory.
 
 [tox]
-envlist = {py36,py37,py38,py39}-{tests,install},docs,install,py36-docs
+envlist = {py37,py38,py39}-{tests,install},docs,install,py37-docs
 
 [testenv]
 download = true
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ deps =
    -rrequirements/docs.txt
 commands = sphinx-build -b html . _build
 
-[testenv:py36-docs]
+[testenv:py37-docs]
 changedir = {[testenv:docs]changedir}
 deps = {[testenv:docs]deps}
 commands = {[testenv:docs]commands}
@@ -44,10 +44,6 @@ commands = {[testenv:docs]commands}
 # There's no way to generate sub-sections in tox.
 # The following sections are all references to the `py37-install`.
 
-[testenv:py36-install]
-skip_install = {[testenv:install]skip_install}
-commands = {[testenv:install]commands}
-
 [testenv:py37-install]
 skip_install = {[testenv:install]skip_install}
 commands = {[testenv:install]commands}